1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the medical testing of cervical material, i.e. tissue and/or mucus, and more particularly to the routine collection of cervical material via the vaginal cavity in such a way that the cervical specimen is unaffected by contact with the vaginal wall.
2. The Prior Art
In the past, it usually has required skilled medical personnel to obtain useful samples of cervical material. In one form, such cervical material is tissue from the cervical os, which is tested for malignancy in the form of a pap smear. In another form, such cervical material is mucus from the cervical os, which indicates ovulation when of predeterminedly low viscosity and the absence of ovulation when of predetermined high viscosity, for fertility control. Previously proposed probes, by which cervical material may be collected, examined and tested, generally have not been for self-use by women wishing to retrieve cervical specimens. It is desired to retrieve such cervical specimens by a reliable probe, which does not require a skilled medical operator but rather which can be operated by the subject woman herself. The probe of the present invention thus enables any woman to submit self-obtained cervical tissue specimens to the laboratory for microscopic examination or to subject self-obtained cervical mucus to rheological testing in simple equipment available in the home for fertility control.